Thursday, 27 May 2010

I came across this wonderful website today and would like to share with you guys.

Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. prepares and motivates children to read by delivering free books and literacy resources to those children and families who need them most. Founded in 1966, RIF is the oldest and largest children's and family nonprofit literacy organization in the United States. RIF's highest priority is reaching under served children from birth to age 8. Through community volunteers in every state and U.S. territory, RIF provided 4.4 million children with 15 million new, free books and literacy resources last year.

RIF's mission is to:* Ensure that every child believes in the value of books and the importance of reading.* Assist children and their families with the fundamental resources children need to become motivated to read.* Lead in the creation and development of national, regional and local collaborations building strong community-based children’s and family literacy programs. RIF launched a new website for young children called "Leading to Reading" which has a free resource to help parents and childcare providers develop the language skills of their infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Of course, with a going to be 15 months old boy in tow, I immediately click on the "Babies and Toddlers" link and was shown this page:I love the interactive display, the cute illustrations are just so lovely! I went to all the links provided: "Stories", "Nursery Rhymes", "Lullabies", "Games" and "Finger Plays".

I love some of the songs in the "Finger Plays" cos' Ben danced along (as usual with his hands swaying left and right) to some of the songs. Some of the "Stories" are great too, such as "And the Caboose Said" and "The Beep-Beep, Boop-Boop, Jug-A-Lug Car". Probably because Ben likes vehicles and seeing the trains and cars in the storybook animations just get him excited and he can't take his eyes off the computer screen ;p

I received no monetary compensation for this review as I just happened to come across this website, tried it and I thought of just sharing my feedback with you guys. Do note that all opinions expressed in this post are my own. I mean, another FREE resource for you guys to use, why not? And I'm all for reading and I truly agree that reading is fundamental! :D